<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Pain of Distance by STARSdidathing</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24487207">Pain of Distance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing'>STARSdidathing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asgard, Boys In Love, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, Feels, Immortal Tony Stark, Imprisonment, Insecurity, Isolation, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Ouch, Pain, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Prison, Prisoner Loki (Marvel), Separations, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:08:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,709</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24487207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There is no price Loki wouldn't pay to get Tony a golden apple. But, imprisonment can take its toll on everyone, especially if it lasts long enough.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>88</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>634</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fics that make my heart go OOF with fluff</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pain of Distance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There is no "Odin is a dick" tag, but let me assure you. He is one in this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first day, when Loki was led into his cell to begin his century-long sentence, he was manacled but he was not forced. He had accepted it willingly despite the protests of his brother and his lover. A hundred years penance for his crimes? It was a small price to pay when, in return, Odin had allowed Anthony a golden apple.</p><p>Loki had been allowed to watch his love eat it, allowed to sense the change from mortal to <i>im</i>mortal. He had been allowed to brush his fingers over Anthony’s cheek, smiling with relief and joy - but it was only for mere moments before he was pulled away by the Einherjar. </p><p>He was placed in his cell. It was the same four walls that had housed him many years ago before the Dark Elves invaded - before his escape, his ruse of Odin and his unexpected, blissful courtship of Anthony Stark. This time, at least, Loki was there of his own freewill, serving his penance in order to save his love from a mortal death. A hundred years apart in order to spend a lifetime together? It was a deal he had willingly struck with the Allfather.</p><p>But, there were still stipulations. Idunn’s apples were rarely bestowed on mortals, in all the millennia that Asgard had hoarded them only two mortals had ever been granted the gift of an Aesir’s length of life. It meant that Odin could be vicious in his demands and challenges to prove that their relationship was strong and worthy enough of a golden apple. </p><p>Anthony had long proven his worth as a warrior and man. He did not have to face any challenges personally; it was <i>Loki</i> who needed to show his repentance and his true change of heart. It meant that while Anthony was allowed to eat the apple, Loki would only be allowed to see Anthony for one day of every year that his sentence lasted.</p><p>Anthony and Thor had been furious at the terms, but Loki had accepted them. He had fought <i>hard</i> to even gain that single day and to allow Anthony inside his cell for the duration of it. </p><p>It didn’t mean that the time apart was easy, but Thor visited almost weekly, bringing Loki a letter from Anthony and returning the next day for Loki’s reply. </p><p>Thor also brought him gifts that Anthony had found for him; books, trinkets, and puzzles the engineer had created in his lab in order to keep Loki occupied. Anthony had given him a device that he’d filled with videos of himself just so that Loki could see his face and hear his voice. It made sleeping easier, listening to his lover’s chatter as he closed his eyes and imagined that he was with the engineer in the man’s lab.</p><p>It was on the anniversary of the day he was sentenced, the anniversary of Anthony’s granted immortality that Anthony was permitted to visit him. Thor had told Loki a few days in advance and on the morning of Anthony’s arrival Loki was pacing his cell and wringing his hands, desperate to see his lover after a year apart.</p><p>Anthony arrived only a few hours past sunrise, led by Thor. He looked the same as he had a year ago; no signs of age, no signs of injury and he all but ran to Loki’s cell, his eyes wracking over Loki as if it had been an eternity and Loki knew he was not behaving much better. </p><p>The moment that Thor lowered the barricade, Anthony leapt into Loki’s cell and threw himself into Loki’s arms. Loki clung to him tightly, burying his face in Anthony’s hair and drawing in the scent of him. </p><p>“I’ve missed you so much,” Anthony hissed fiercely and the words both warmed and ached Loki’s heart.</p><p>“And I’ve missed you,” Loki whispered before moving his hand to cup the back of Anthony’s head and draw him into a soft, reaffirming kiss. </p><p>Anthony made a small, wounded noise, digging his fingers into Loki’s back while Loki just pulled Anthony even closer, their bodies pressed together almost painfully. They kissed for a long time, Loki could not have said exactly how much, only that when they parted they rested their foreheads together and breathed shakily.</p><p>Loki had almost forgotten where he was and that they were not alone, but he was reminded when Thor gently and sadly informed them, “I will return tomorrow to escort Tony from Asgard.” </p><p>Loki gave a small nod, his hands coming up to cup Anthony’s cheeks and sooth the frustrated, pained frown from his love’s skin. Thor didn’t say anything more and a moment later the bright light from his cell’s normal barricade darkened and Loki glanced over to see that Thor had blackened it; no one could see in and no one could see out. Thor would be the only one who could reverse the spell that had given them their privacy.</p><p>For the longest time, neither of them moved nor spoke, just holding one another close and absorbing the sensation they had been without for too many months.</p><p>“I hate that he’s making you do this,” Anthony broke the silence to hiss. “I hate not having you with me. I hate that you’re <i>stuck in here</i> and I can’t stay with you.”</p><p>“But it would not be a penance if I had the one thing I wanted with me,” Loki told him gently, rubbing his thumb over Anthony’s cheek and smiling gently in the face of Anthony’s frustration. “And you are worth any price, my dear one.”</p><p>Anthony let out a frustrated breath, closing his eyes and sliding his hands around to fist in the front of Loki’s shirt, curling his hands close to his own chest as if trying to forge them together. </p><p>“This is only the first <i>year</i>,” Anthony whispered. “I already feel like I’ve lost a limb without you with me.”</p><p>“Shh,” Loki murmured, not wanting to think of the long ninety-nine years before them. “Let us not speak of it. We have one day together, I would rather not ruin it with darker thoughts.”</p><p>Anthony grimaced but Loki still felt his nod, their foreheads rubbing together with the motion. “Okay.” He let out a rough, half-laugh before quipping a little painfully, “Well, I never did get ‘conjugal visit’ ticked off my ‘how to have sex’ list.”</p><p>A smile pulled at Loki’s mouth at the attempt at humour, but even as he started pulling Anthony towards his bed, he told his lover, “Later. For now, I would just have you lie with me.”</p><p>The reply softened Anthony’s expression and he moved with ease until they reached the bed, Loki lying down with his back against the wall and Anthony curling into his embrace and burying his face in Loki’s chest. It made a part of Loki relax and loosen for the first time since he’d been away from his lover.</p><p>Closing his eyes, Loki breathed in the moment and hoped that this brief time with Anthony would be enough to sustain him, enough to dampen the way he would miss Anthony for the next long and lonely year: it was all Loki could do.</p>
<hr/><p>The years passed with very little change as Loki was trapped inside his cell. </p><p>The days were long and often spent re-reading Anthony’s letters, playing his recordings, imagining what he was doing and remembering the times that Anthony had visited his cell.</p><p>The days with Anthony as well as picturing their life together when his sentence was complete; it was all that kept Loki sane in a place of such monotony and limited conversation. Anthony’s gifts helped as well; items that were meant to test and challenge Loki when he had little other means of challenging himself.</p><p>Anthony spoke in great detail about all that was happening on Midgard but after fifty years on the planet, he decided to make a more permanent home on Alfheim with Thor assisting him in purchasing property.</p><p>It was for a year that Anthony and Loki’s letters discussed how Anthony would prepare the house for Loki’s eventual arrival. He took photos in a Midgardian fashion that was outdated even on his planet; printing physical copies for Loki to stick upon his walls; many of which included Anthony making peculiar faces or winking at the camera.</p><p>Loki found himself laughing softly and adorning the walls with each photograph and tracing the pictures with his fingertips before he fell asleep.</p><p>But as the years passed and as Thor’s duties as prince gave him little time to visit Anthony or Loki, so did the frequency of their letters decrease. They became every second week, often being collected and passed between the two of them by Fandral who was happy to assist when Thor could not.</p><p>The decrease in letters ate at Loki and left him trying desperately not to worry that as the decades passed Anthony’s interest in returning to him would fade as well. There was little he could do from his cell and no one to express his concerns to. He did consider, on numerous occasions, of speaking about his fears with Anthony, but always shied from voicing it aloud; half-afraid that saying the words would bring truth to them while also feeling guilty for distrusting Anthony’s commitment to him.</p><p>The fears, after all, were always so easy to forget when his lover hugged and kissed him tightly on their yearly reunion - when he looked at Loki with love and touched him with affection and longing despite half a century apart.</p><p>But with many years to go and numerous months between each visit from Anthony, Loki’s apprehension only continued to build within him.</p><p>Anthony’s life was not idle; it was filled with explorations of the realms, new inventions and new friendships. Loki was but a figure on the peripheral, hearing of each recounting after the fact, hearing a fraction of the details and with nothing new to impart of his own time locked away. He could only respond to Anthony’s tales and try not to feel worried about what details, what <i>people</i>, weren’t included in Anthony’s letters. He tried to assure himself that <i>nothing</i> was missing, that he knew all that happened in his lover’s life; that every written ‘<i>I wish you were here</i>’ was true.</p><p>Loki tried to tell himself that a century apart wouldn’t convince Anthony they were better off that way.</p><p>It became... harder when Anthony began to talk about one <i>specific</i> friend. Anthony had made numerous associates, some of which were mutual acquaintances introduced by Loki before he had been imprisoned. They all knew Loki was Anthony’s lover and that was he committed to him, but one friend in particular kept reoccurring in Anthony’s letters.</p><p>It was an Alfheim weaponsmith named Trygve who had many similarities to Anthony and who was happy to share knowledge with him. They had even gone on trips to the other realms together and began to craft inventions together. </p><p>Loki had endeavoured to tell himself the weaponsmith was little more than Banner had been, a friend who Anthony could create and do ‘<i>science</i>’ with. Loki tried, desperately, not to be jealous or frustrated when the man’s name began to appear in most of Anthony’s letters.</p><p>They had never discussed their commitment, their <i>monogamy</i> when Loki had first been sentenced, it had not even crossed Loki’s mind. They were loyal to one another; it had never needed to be asked since the early days of their courtship.</p><p>And yet... it was reaching seventy years and Loki found himself wondering. His lover had never been celibate, he had in fact been <i>known</i> for his many sexual partners and antics. They were intimate at least once, often more, on every visit; but it was a single day a year, was it enough?</p><p>The thoughts plagued Loki and found him pacing. The walls felt oppressive and he wished to hurl his magic at them, to batter them down and escape to Alfheim to see his lover, but the cage was well built, and more so, should Loki escape, Odin would not hesitate to consider their terms forfeit. </p><p>Odin had threatened that should Loki trick or fight his way out of his imprisonment, not only would Loki become a fugitive of Asgard once more with no chance of redemption, but Anthony’s immortality would no longer be earned and that, by rights, Anthony should be caught and executed.</p><p>Loki could not let that happen; he had not made this deal nor worked so hard simply to ruin it with impatience and fear.</p><p>Loki made himself stop his jerking movements and focused instead on the photos that adorned his cell. He had so many that he often spent an entire day each month removing and then replacing them. They covered every available surface and showed Anthony, their home on Alfheim, Anthony’s robots--who had moved with him to Alfheim--various inventions and different things he had seen on his travels. The photos all had a message on the back as well as a date and Loki would often trace his lover’s writing and the captured image of his face. He had multiple boxes all filled with letters and photos while gifts took up almost as much space as Loki’s books. Anthony had offered to take some back with him, give Loki more space, but Loki refused. He would rather have limited space then lose even a single item Anthony had given him.</p><p>It was as he was reaching up to trace an image of Anthony with his arms thrown around Dum-e as they celebrated the robot’s first use of a fire-extinguisher on Alfheim, that Loki was distracted by the sound of approaching feet. He found Fandral arriving with a smile; a letter and a wrapped gift in his hands. </p><p>Loki brightened instantly and stepped back from the cell’s edge to allow Fandral to open it and step inside. The swordsman would often visit him even without a letter; staying for an hour or two in order to keep him company. Loki greatly appreciated his kindness as well as his understanding. Fandral did little more then pass over the items today before lightly clasping Loki’s arm and leaving him to his letter.</p><p>Loki barely paid attention to the swordsman stepping back out of the cell as he tore open the letter. He saw Anthony’s jagged and familiar handwriting, but his attention was stolen by the two photos inside; one was of Anthony laughing as he was climbed on by native Vanaheim monkeys, but the one that made Loki’s heart feel as if it was encased in ice, was the picture of Anthony with his arm over the shoulders of another brunet man. They were both flushed and laughing; the longboat in the background was of no consequence to Loki. He turned the photo over with a faint shake to his hand: <i>Trygve and I finished our longboat!!! It’s going to be almost as cool as the Iron Man armour to fly!!</i></p><p>Loki swallowed roughly before calling out, “Fandral!”</p><p>It took a few moments before the swordsman hurried back and asked, “Loki? Has something occurred?”</p><p>Loki licked his lips before forcing his eyes away from the photo to look at the confused and concerned Aesir. “Was... was Anthony alone when you visited him?”</p><p>Fandral shook his head. “No, there was an Alfheim man with him.”</p><p>Loki barely quelled his flinch in time. “I see,” he whispered. “Did they seem... happy?”</p><p>“Very much so!” Fandral enthused with a bright smile, oblivious to Loki’s turmoil. “I believe they have formed a fine partnership! The longboat they have made together is-”</p><p>“Thank you, Fandral,” Loki curtly interrupted him. “That is enough.” He saw the swordsman frown at him with puzzlement, but Loki merely wanted him <i>gone</i>. “That will be all, return tomorrow for my response.”</p><p>“Of course,” Fandral gave him a slight bow. “Until then, Prince Loki.”</p><p>Loki barely noticed the other man leave; all he could see was the image of Anthony with his arm around another man, and when his magic escaped in a flame that burned the picture to ash, Loki felt no less anguished over what he had seen.</p><p>And with thirty years still left on his sentence, how could Loki hope to compete?</p>
<hr/><p>Trygve continued to feature in Anthony’s letters but no other photograph was sent of the man. Loki almost regretted burning the one he had received if only as he’d had no chance to truly <i>categorise</i> the other man. </p><p>Loki had intended to confront Anthony about him on their next yearly visit, to demand to know what the Alfheim weaponsmith meant to Anthony – but when Anthony ran into his cell as enthusiastically as the first time. When Anthony kissed him like he had spent every moment apart wishing he could be in Loki’s arms, when his first words were ‘<i>I love you</i>’; Loki found his accusations dying on his tongue.</p><p>And so they remained unvoiced. He showed support and encouragement for Anthony’s friendship and hid his fears, frustrations and jealousy.</p><p>He <i>trusted</i> Anthony. He knew the other man would not lie to him. Anthony would tell him if he developed feelings for another. He also wouldn’t touch and kiss Loki so reverently if he didn’t love him any longer.</p><p>It was merely the sentence and the torment of his cell; the loneliness and the separation causing him to doubt their relationship and the man he loved above all others. </p><p>It helped that as another decade passed, Anthony became more excited, talking about Loki’s eventual freedom and the party Anthony and the robots were going to throw at having him back. Anthony spoke about all the places and things he wanted to show Loki. How they were going to spend at least a week in the bedroom and then another month without leaving the house, just <i>being together</i> and catching up on all the time they’d missed.</p><p>Loki fell asleep every night thinking of that future; a time that was drawing closer with every passing year.</p><p>Anthony even started to make a tally on Loki’s wall when they reached the last decade. He used a tool from his pocket to scratch a single line in a gap between the photographs. He did it before he had to leave, confusing Loki greatly. Anthony had just stepped close, cupped Loki’s cheeks and kissed him. </p><p>“This is the last few years,” Anthony had whispered with hope and excitement in his eyes. “I’m going to make that mark every year; a countdown to the start of our new life together, babe.”</p><p>Loki had found himself smiling and kissing Anthony again; one more deep kiss before his lover had to leave. Loki traced those marks frequently in the years that followed; the row of four, then the line through the centre of them, followed by the start of the next row. Their happiness and exhilaration was rising with each mark that Anthony scratched into the wall. </p><p>Loki had almost forgotten about Trygve and about the dangers of the universe.</p><p>He didn’t start thinking about it until the ninety-ninth year. It was two weeks after Anthony’s last visit--his <i>final</i> visit before Loki was free--that Loki sent a letter and Anthony didn’t reply back.</p><p>Fandral had returned empty-handed and with an apology, but no explanation other than that Anthony was well, but unable to reply to him. Loki had been disappointed and concerned, but he’d accepted it. He’d waited a few days, but when no reply came, he’d had Fandral send another letter.</p><p>The same occurred. </p><p>Loki tried not to let his panic or his devastation show as he wrote a third letter and asked Fandral to give it to Thor as well as a note. It requested that his brother give the letter to Anthony in the hopes it would inspire Anthony to say <i>something</i>.</p><p>But when Thor came back empty-handed and with guilt-ridden eyes, Loki felt a piece of him shatter.</p><p>“I am sorry, Loki,” Thor told him, stepping into the cell and placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder. Loki didn’t even feel it as he stared at the ground. “If I could-” he cut himself off and let out a frustrated breath. “I swear to you Loki, I have done <i>everything</i> I could.”</p><p>The words, instead of comforting him, only made Loki flinch and drove the agony home deeper.</p><p>What had happened? What had changed? What had made Anthony suddenly... <i>stop?</i></p><p>“He’s not injured?” Loki questioned, his voice raw as he looked at his brother, a small part of him guiltily wishing it was so, that something kept Anthony from him.</p><p>Thor just looked even more pained. “He is well, Loki.”</p><p>The ache that overtook his chest made Loki pull away from Thor and turn his back on the thunderer. He crossed his arms as if the position could hold him together, but all he could see were nine lines carved into the stone, surrounded by pictures of Anthony.</p><p>
  <i>Has he realised that I will no longer be some distant lover? Has he realised that my return is something he no longer wants?</i>
</p><p>Loki closed his eyes tightly, but it didn’t stop them stinging, nor the start of tears that rolled silently down his cheeks. When Thor simply came up behind him and wrapped Loki in his arms, Loki didn’t even try and fight off the other man; he just let himself be held, as he cried.</p>
<hr/><p>Loki didn’t stop sending letters, he couldn’t.</p><p>He begged for Anthony to write back. He told Anthony they could re-start their relationship, he did not have to move into Anthony’s home straight away. He swore that Anthony just needed to tell him what he wanted and they could discuss it and come to a conclusion that was satisfactory.</p><p>When his beseeching letters to continue their relationship in some way, <i>any way</i>, didn’t work, Loki asked if he had found another lover, if he was trying to put off telling Loki. It rolled his stomach and nearly made him rip up the letter, snap another quill or sob, but Loki continued to force out the questions; trying to gain something, <i>anything</i>.</p><p>But nothing came.</p><p>He began to believe his letters were lying unopened somewhere on Anthony’s desk, or perhaps thrown into a fire or given to U to blend.</p><p>It meant Loki wrote without censure; begging for a chance, asking for merely friendship, asking for <i>anything</i>; some kind of communication even if only out of pity.</p><p>
  <i>Please write back to me, Anthony. Tell me you’re okay. A single word. Just tell me something, please, Anthony, I beg you. Please tell me something.</i>
</p><p>He no longer expected a letter. He gave his correspondence to Thor or Fandral, trying not to hold their pitying, pained gazes and waited. </p><p>He waited for a full Asgardian year but gained nothing from Anthony.</p><p>Loki woke up on the last day of his sentence and stared at the ceiling. He felt hollow; any joy of freedom had been snatched from him. </p><p>He laid there until the Einherjar came to collect him. They lowered the barricade and he turned his head to them. It took effort to stand up on weary, downtrodden feet, but Loki did. He stood in the centre of his room and used a spark of magic to draw all his personal items, gifts and photos together and into boxes. He then sent them to his pocket-dimension. He didn’t know what he would do with them, but Loki couldn’t bring himself to leave them.</p><p>Loki knew he would travel to Alfheim and find Anthony, he would <i>talk</i> to him. Loki knew that Anthony did not wish to see him, but Loki had to speak to him, he had to <i>try</i>, even if it came to nothing, he would see his love one last time and he would know why Anthony had left him.</p><p>When the Einherjar just made impatient noises, not wanting him to be late to the Allfather’s ceremony, Loki gave the room one final review before lingering on a single spot on the wall.</p><p>He didn’t know why he stepped over to it, but Loki found himself tracing the nine marks Anthony had carved into it. He stroked them for a long moment before conjuring a dagger to make the final stroke to complete the decade. He sent the dagger away, touching them one final time before turning his back on the cell and stepping out to join the Einherjar who instantly placed manacles around his wrists.</p><p>The walk to the Grand Hall seemed to take both an age and a moment; familiar hallways feeling new and bright after a century locked inside a cell. It could not dull Loki’s need to see his lover or his fear of what it would bring, but he forced himself to remain in step with the guards as he was brought to the large hall where Odin sat on his throne.</p><p>The room was filled with a surprising amount of people, but then, the decree did need to be acknowledged and publicised. Loki still strained his head around, but could not see familiar brown eyes and a short, tanned stature; Anthony wasn’t present.</p><p>It made Loki close his eyes against the newest wave of hurt. He focused instead on stopping in front of the throne and giving a respectful if unfeeling bow.</p><p>“Loki Odinson,” Odin began, his voice booming and ceasing any lingering chatter between the observers. “You have completed your sentence of repentance for your crimes. You regain the title of Prince of Asgard as well as your freedom.” His eye bored into Loki, seeming caught between displeasure and consideration. “You and your Midgardian have passed the trials and tests put before you.” Loki tried not to cringe at the mention of Anthony. “You go with Asgard’s blessings.”  </p><p>Odin brought down gungnir, formalising his decree and making the manacles drop from Loki’s wrists. </p><p>Loki stared absently at his hands, barely hearing the clapping of the people around him. He <i>did</i> however, hear one voice and he snapped his head to the side.</p><p>“Move. Get the fuck out of my way. I will punch you if you don’t <i>move</i>.”</p><p>Loki’s breath was caught in his throat, but he saw the disgruntled crowd part to reveal Anthony in the Alfheim clothing he had taken to wearing since moving to the planet. The moment there was no one in front of him; Anthony was sprinting over to Loki. He barely had time to shift to face the other man before Anthony was throwing himself at Loki with enough force to make him stumble. </p><p>He gripped Anthony's back, shocked at the display, sight and <i>feel</i> of the other man against him. Anthony just clung to him tightly and let out a shaky breath.</p><p>“<i>Anthony</i>,” Loki whispered, choked and awed.</p><p>“I’m so fucking sorry,” Anthony swore, looking up at him with guilt-wracked features. “Odin wouldn’t let me talk to you. Said it was some new fucking bastard clause in the fucking bullshit sentence. We couldn’t tell you. God, we tried <i>everything</i>. I read your letters but I couldn’t <i>say</i> anything. God, I’m not-fuck, I love you so much, Loki.” He let go of Loki if only to cup his face. “I swear, it’s only you, no one else. I’ve been waiting for this as much as you. I want you to come home. I <i>love</i> you. I-” </p><p>But Loki kissed him, silencing his frantic words and dragging Anthony against him. Loki kissed him with desperation, relief and love and Anthony responded with equal conviction, longing and affection.</p><p>Loki didn’t even realise he was shaking with relief until Anthony pulled back, looking at him with concern even as he stroked Loki’s cheek.</p><p>“Come on, Lokes. Let’s get the hell out of here and go to the house that’s finally going to be <i>home</i> now that you’re there.”</p><p>Loki gave a wet laugh and kissed Anthony again. He pressed their foreheads together and breathed in the scent and feel of his lover as he readied them for a teleport that would leave Asgard far behind and thrust them into the future they’d waited so long to gain.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just imagine Tony reading <i>every letter</i> during that last year and feel the pain. You’re welcome. XP</p><p>Also, I can imagine Loki has nightmares for a while.<br/>Waking up gasping and terrified Tony isn't there.<br/>And Tony is always "I'm here, I'm here, Loki I love you, you're home, it's over."<br/>And Loki curling into him and shaking.<br/>And Loki walking around the house in a daze for weeks. Taking a while before he's ready to be out and about.<br/>Just talking/being around the house can be too much after a few days. When he gets like that, they go to the bedroom and Tony is just silent beside him. Letting Loki get used to the flow of input going on around him.<br/>But hey! Once he starts handling it more, getting affection from the bots and becoming comfortable in their house (which Tony has left open and ready for Loki to add his own decorating touches to) they both live happily ever after! :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>